UPDATE: Vancouver Island schools and colleges closed Tuesday

Vancouver Island school districts are giving their students a snow day.

Early Monday evening, District 79 Cowichan and District 68 Nanaimo each announced district-wide closures for Tuesday, Feb. 12 due to the ongoing snowfall and expected overnight accumulation. The Saanich, Sooke and Victoria School Districts followed suit later Monday night that students would not be attending classes Tuesday, as did District 69 Qualicum.

The Alberni, Comox Valley and Campbell River districts did the same just before 6 a.m. Tuesday.

Vancouver Island University took a similar step, announcing that all campuses except Powell River will be closed Tuesday as well.

“Given the continuing snowfall and the forecast for more overnight, we wanted to give everyone as much notice as possible,” an alert sent to VIU students shortly after 7 p.m. Monday states.

The University of Victoria, North Island College and Camosun College are also closed Tuesday

Nanaimo district superintendent Scott Saywell announced his closure in style.

And Sooke superintendent Scott Stinson followed suit a little while later.

According to the latest Environment Canada update at 4:44 a.m., the snowfall warning remains in effect for the Island from Campbell River south, including the west coast.

The warning states the snowfall — which began yesterday afternoon — will gradually taper off this afternoon into the early evening as the low pressure centre responsible weakens. Accumulations of 5 to 25 cm can be expected over that period.

“Prepare for quickly changing and deteriorating travel conditions. Surfaces such as highways, roads, walkways and parking lots may become difficult to navigate due to accumulating snow.”

Keep checking back to this file for more weather and closure information as it becomes available.